2025 Preakness Stakes Odds, Best Bets & Predictions

By Adam Thompson

May 16th, 2025 9:12 PM EST

Used 19 Times Today

Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets Win or Lose

Bonus Code

BOOKIES

Visit Site

Must be 21+ to participate (18+ in KY). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (CO, IL, IA, KY, KS, LA, MD, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ). Call 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). CALL 1-877-770-STOP (LA). Must be present in LA (select parishes). Licensee partner Amelia Belle Casino. Deposit required. Paid in Bonus Bets. Bets wager excluded from returns. New Customer only. T&Cs, time limits and exclusions apply.

The last time Bookies.com horse racing handicapper Adam Thompson posted picks for a Triple Crown race, he nailed the Belmont Stakes trifecta, resulting in a massive $500 win on a $3 wager for those tailing his choices.

Now he’s back for the 2025 season, and his picks are locked in not for just for Preakness Stakes, but every race at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday.

Thompson has been crushing horse racing betting the last three years. Last year he cashed on eight of the 13 races at the Belmont Stakes Saturday, and won more than half the races at last year’s Preakness Stakes.

Now he has set his sights on the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes. The nine-horse field goes to post at 6:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 17.

Used 26 Times Today

Bet $5, Get $250 in Bonus Bets If Your Bet Wins!

Bonus Code

No Code Required

Visit Site

Must be 21+ to participate. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, KY, MI, NJ, OH, PA, IL, TN, VA, VT), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD), 1-800-522-4700 (WY), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV). GamblingHelpLineMA.org or call (800) 327-5050 for 24/7 support (MA). Call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY).

2025 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course

Saturday, May 17 | 6:50 p.m. ET | NBC

The Kentucky Derby is always the toughest horse race to handicap because there are so many horses, sometimes 20 or even more. The 2025 Preakness Stakes has nine, so we can worry less about getting caught in traffic.

JOURNALISM (#2, 8/5 odds) was the favorite to win the Derby, ultimately taking second. Traffic was an issue early on for the favorite, and it won’t be here. No horse in this race that also ran in the Derby was even close to Journalism at the end. The Michael McCarthy-trained horse, who had won every graded stakes race before the Derby, can win a Triple Crown race here.

Every wager we’re taking for the Preakness is headed by Journalism. We can make more based on the horses we place underneath.

RIVER THAMES (#6, 9/2), GOAL ORIENTED (#1, 6/1) and AMERICAN PROMISE (#3, 15/1) will be paired with Journalism on Exacta wagers.

River Thames has just one win and took third at the G1 Bluegrass Stakes in April, but Todd Pletcher will have the horse in form. Bob Baffert has Goal Oriented, who has raced just twice but won them both, including an undercard race on Derby Saturday.

American Promise finished a distant 16th at the Derby but has produced some of the highest speed times in the field. The D. Wayne Lukas horse has been dramatically inconsistent, but with those times paired with those horse racing odds at sports betting apps, we’ll take a flyer.

We’re also adding SANDMAN (#7, 4-1) to our Trifecta wager. Sandman has finished in the Top 3 of five straight races before taking seventh at the Derby.

Here’s how we’re betting the Preakness Stakes and every race at Pimlico on Saturday.

Used 26 Times Today

Bet $5, Get $250 in Bonus Bets If Your Bet Wins!

Bonus Code

No Code Required

Visit Site

Preakness Stakes Picks

$10 To Win: 2 ($10)
$3 Exacta: 2 with 1,3,6 ($9)
$1 Trifecta: 2 with 1,3,6,7 with 1,3,6,7 ($12)

Pimlico Park Saturday Picks

RACE 1: Exacta Box 1,7,8; Trifecta Box 1,5,7,8
RACE 2: 5 To Win; Exacta Box 5,9
RACE 3: Exacta Box 1,3,5
RACE 4: 6 To Win; Exacta 6 with 2,5,7; Trifecta 6 with 2,5,7 with 2,5,7
RACE 5: 3 To Win
RACE 6: Exacta Box 3,5,7
RACE 7: 2 To Win
RACE 8: 8 To Win
RACE 9: Exacta Box 2,5,6
RACE 10: 4 To Win; Exacta Box 4,7,9
RACE 11: 7 To Win
RACE 12: Exacta Box 1,6,13
RACE 13: Preakness Stakes, see above
RACE 14: 4 To Win

Used 26 Times Today

Bet $5, Get $250 in Bonus Bets If Your Bet Wins!

Bonus Code

No Code Required

Visit Site

About the Author

Adam Thompson

More About Adam

Long established as one of the nation's premier handicappers, Adam Thompson joined Bookies.com in 2019 after a successful run as senior handicapper for SportsLine & CBSSports.com. He specializes in the NFL and MLB, where he's hit on well over 60% of his picks the past five years. Adam's NBA and horse racing picks have also produced consistent, major winners over the years.